The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Throughout the education system, there seems to be an unofficial consensus that pieces of literature that are deemed “controversial” should not be taught in school. The Merchant of Venice falls into this category due to the Anti-Semitism which exists within the play making it “controversial” therefore, banned. On the contrary, this play should not be considered controversial and it should not be banned due to the learning experiences and knowledge that can be gained by reading this play. The contrastive style of literature will provide students and teachers alike who read this play the chance to expand their horizons when it comes to their English skills. With this in mind, The Merchant of Venice written by William

Shylock on the other point is a focal point of the entire play. There is a traditional stereotype of Jews found in the Elizabethan times. He is comically put out as a greedy minister who wears a traditional Jewish gabardine. As a middle-aged man, Shylock has a keenness of observation, a memory of several details as well as a strong energy amount. Unlike Antonio, he is portrayed as someone with a strong amount of energy who is well versed with the Bible. He often draws analogies from several Biblical stories and sources. These are relevant to situations whereby he finds himself in.

This makes Shylock, Jessica’s dad very angry because when Jessica marries Lancelot she becomes a Christian.

Shakespeare 's complex play Othello holds numerous pressing issues within its intricate layers that seem to leap out to modern society. One such issue seen by many is the representation of women. Women within the play can be characterized as submissive possessions and temptresses. This ideology, though commonplace in this time period, appears controversial to the modern eye as we deconstruct the characters of this play. This dominate patriarchal society present within the setting merely conditions this belief further as it is prevalent within the characters dialogue.

William Shakespeare’s 16th century play Othello is a duplicitous and fraudulent tale set alternatingly between Venice in act 1, and the island of Cyprus thereafter. The play follows the scandalous marriage between protagonist Othello, a Christian moore and the general of the army of Venice, and Desdemona, a respected and intelligent woman who also happens to be the daughter of the Venetian Senator Brabantio. Shakespeare undoubtedly positions the marriage to be viewed as heroic and noble, despite Othello’s hamartia and subsequent downfall that inevitably occurs. Their marriage is then sabotaged by the jealous Iago, Othello’s ensign and villain of the play. While Iago’s ostensible justification for instigating Othello’s demise was his failure to acquire Othello’s position as lieutenant, Iago’s motives are rarely directly articulated and seem to derive from an obsessive, almost aesthetic pleasure in manipulation and destruction. Through the genre of the play, being a Shakespearean tragedy, and the structural devices employed by Shakespeare such as plot development, exposition, foreshadowing, dénouement, dramatic excitement, and catharsis, the key ideas of jealousy, appearance vs. reality and pride are developed and explored.

William Shakespeare’s Othello would not be a dramatic tragedy if the smiling villain, Iago, were a deaf mute. There is no doubt that the destruction of each character can be blamed on jealous Iago. The theme of jealousy helps propel the plot naturally and demonstrates the consequences of being morbidly jealous. The circumstantial evidence Iago provides acts like a lethal poison, which surrounds Othello in suspicion and envy but also turns him into an inhuman murderer. Jealousy is the ‘monster’ that unresonably conducts the great suffering in the story.

at the point when Antonio said ‘I am as like to call thee so again,’

up with her again and then his life long quest of being with his dream girl would come

In Tempest, Caliban and Prospero are of contradictory natures. Their characteristics are notably different as well as other characters have different opinions and attitudes to them. However, both of them have the same master and savior Prospero.

Risk is a situation that involves the possibility of exposure to dangers. Risks exist everywhere, even the most minute of actions can place someone in jeopardy. It is an inescapable labyrinth that plagues the lives of all ever since humanity’s first existence. Yet it,s double-edged sword like characteristics of also providing opportunities and gains keeps many enthralled in it. In William Shakespeare 's’ The Merchant of Venice, Antonio, a protagonist, gives himself over to a life-threatening contract with the villain, Shylock the Jew, in order to provide the means for one of Antonio’s friend the opportunity to woo a lady. Over the course of the play, various risky opportunities and events also expose other relationships as means of satisfying their wants, although not all their outcomes are favourable. Risk is the root cause of rewards and punishments in The Merchant of Venice. This is seen between the play’s rivals, such as Antonio and Shylock. Also is seen between lovers, such as Bassanio and Portia. It is seen again between fathers and children, such as Shylock and Jessica.

In many of William Shakespeare’s plays, the main problem or conflict in the plot or subplots almost always comes by means of a human vice, which is often combined with an external force or influence. In Othello, for instance, the main problem is Othello’s jealousy for Desdemona, all because Iago has wrongly convinced Othello of her unfaithfulness. In one of the Twelfth Night subplots, Malvolio’s pride combines with the mischievous schemes of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria, resulting in the conviction of Malvolio as a madman. This same pattern can be clearly seen in Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most famous works. In Macbeth, the main conflict in the story is brought about through the meddling of three witches, who prophesy that Macbeth has become the thane of Cawdor and will later be crowned as the king of Scotland, positions which Macbeth had never even considered before. After having the position of thane bestowed upon him, Macbeth, totally consumed by the vices of greed, ambition, and lust for power, forsakes all of his morals in order to make the second prophecy a reality. The storyline starts off with relative order, descends into disorder and chaos, and the entire plot seems to self-correct back into order with the death of Macbeth at the end of the story. Macbeth exhibits the common pattern of order giving way to disorder correcting back to order that is prevalent across several of Shakespeare’s other works, and the causes and reasons for the disorders are brought

William Shakespeare’s play of tragedy, Othello, has an abundant bulk of dynamic characters throughout the duration of the play. The eventuality of the grievous end in Othello could have transpired contrastingly different, assuming a particular character procured a bit of empathy. The antagonist, Iago, and ancient of Othello could have shown a little deeper empathy towards his wife Emilia, from the start to finish of the play. If Iago had shown empathy he would not have suffered a crushing defeat and instead would acquire the revenge he so furtively devised without anybody at all gleaning his traitorous behavior. The first chance Iago missed, in using a little empathy towards his wife, was when Emilia found Desdemona’s handkerchief on the floor.

Women, especially Desdemona but Emilia as well, are obviously targets of male violence in Othello. For some reason Shakespeare’s play often put the emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the main male characters. For instance, the result of the passionate love of Romeo for Juliet, the effect of Ophelia’s insanity had on hamlet, and so on. In Othello, Shakespeare made Desdemona and the other women in the play no different; Othello’s jalousie and love made the play a tragedy. Shakespeare made Desdemona the faithful wife of Othello. She was such a kindhearted and wished to make everything work even when the situation where she lost her handkerchief she tried to fix the situation and calming Othello. However, her innocent sympathy towards Cassio made lago’s lies more credible. Overall, one can say that her naïve nature causes her to become a target for the men in the play.

What is the most important trait in a healthy relationship? The romance? The dates? The sweet words? No. It is the trust. If there is no trust between lovers then the hope of a stable relationship is absolutely impossible. This brings us to our main lovers, Othello and Desdemona. Though in the beginning their love felt sweeter than a meringue; jealousy reared its ugly head and consumed Othello, making him believe his wife to be unfaithful. But mere jealousy alone was not the only cause for the demise of what Othello and Desdemona had. Iago was the match that sparked the forest fire, meaning Iago was the beginning of it all. But why was Othello so quick to believe him? The reason for Othello believing in Iago's dishonest words so quickly was because to Othello, Iago was a 'trustworthy and honest' man, Iago planted seeds of doubt in Othello's mind, and because Othello cares more for restoring his status and honor rather than believing his own wife; this is important because it brings up the question whether Othello truly loved Desdemona.

“I would my daughter were dead at my foot ... would she were hearsed at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin!”